Girls achievement Flashcards
Trends of educational achievement between genders
Girls are doing better at school than boys at all Key
Stages– year 6 SATs, GCSEs, Level 3 (A Levels and
BTECs) there are more female university students than
male and they are getting higher degrees.
However boys’ achievement is raising but just at a slower rate than girls’.
What are the 4 external reasons as to why women are doing better in school
Impact of Feminism
Changes in the family
Girls’ changing ambitions
Increase in women’s employment opportunities
Impact of feminism (external)
The Feminist movement has improved the position of women in society
by leading to changes in the law which have established legal equality
in employment through such laws as the Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act. These changes encourage girls to gain qualifications as they see their future in terms of work and careers.
McRobbie:
studied girls magazines from 1970s and 1990s.
1970s- emphasised the importance of getting married
1990s- Contained images of strong, independent women.
This shows the impact of fem as it brought social changes
Changes in the family
The increase in divorce and in lone parent families has
created a new type of positive role model for girls – a
financially independent woman. To achieve this
independence, women need well paid jobs which need
high qualifications. This encourages girls to remain in
education.
Girls’ changing ambitions
Women’s ambitions and expectations have changed beyond being a wife and mother.
Sharpe carried out two sets of interviews with school girls. The first set she carried out in the 1970s. Sharpe found that girls’ priorities included marriage, love, husbands and children. They saw educational success as unfeminine. The second set of interviews Sharpe carried out in the 1990s. Her findings were exactly the opposite. This shows the change in girls’ ambitions from marriage and motherhood to education and career and leads to their educational success.
Beck and Beck-Gersheim argue the change in girls’ ambitions has been caused by increasing individualisation where independence is valued much more strongly than in the past. They argue that a career has become a part of a woman’s life project as it provides them with economic self-sufficiency.
Increase in women’s employment
opportunities
New employment laws have been introduced to establish equality between men and women at work - Equal Pay Act 1970, Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
There has been an increase in the number of working women
due to the growth of the service sector (tertiary sector) which
tends to employ women. This gives girls an incentive to get
qualification as there are employment opportunities for them
in the job market.
What are the 6 internal factors as to why girls do better in school
Equal opportunities policies
Positive role models at school
The introduction of compulsory (core) subjects at GCSE
and examination through coursework
Teacher attention and classroom interaction
Challenging stereotypes in the curriculum
Selection and league tables
Equal opportunities policies
There are initiatives such as GIST (Girls into science and
technology) and WISE (Women into science and engineering)
which aim to encourage girls to choose science related education
and careers. This motivates girls to pursue STEM careers for
which they need qualifications so they work hard at school.
Prior to the introduction of the National Curriculum in 1988 girls tended
to choose subjects such as English and Art, while boys tended to choose Maths and Sciences. The NC made Eng, Maths and Sci into core subject which must be studied by all students. This makes both girls and boys study the same subjects thus establishing gender equality. It also enables girls to have wider career options and motivates them to get good grades. Boaler – these equal opps policies are the main reason for girls’ achievement as they have removed the barriers girls used to face in edu.
Positive role models at school
In recent years there has been an increase in female
teachers and head teachers. These women in positions
of authority act as positive female role models to girls.
Girls can see that women can succeed, but that success
requires lengthy and successful education which
motivates them to gain qualifications.
GCSE and coursework
In 1988 GCSEs were introduced and coursework became a
major part of testing in all subjects. Since then, girls’
outperformance over boys has sharply risen. Mitsos and
Browne argue that this is due to the fact that girls are better
organised and tend to spend more time and greater care over
their work. This is because of gender socialisation which
encourages girls to be neat, tidy and patient.
Teacher attention and classroom
interaction
French argues that in class boys receive more reprimands
than girls.
Francis agrees and says boys are disciplined more
harshly and feel picked on by teachers, who have lower
expectations of boys.
Swann points out the difference in communication styles whereby girls take turns and listen, while boys interrupt and dominate class interactions. These factors explain why teachers respond positively to girls than to boys giving them more praise. This may lead to a
self-fulfilling prophecy thus increasing the girls’
self-esteem.
Challenging stereotypes in the
curriculum
Research in the 1970s and 1980s found that textbooks
portrayed men and women in traditional, stereotypical
roles. Since then these sexist images have been
removed from textbooks and Weiner argues teachers
now challenge prejudice. This presents girls with
positive images of women.
Selection and league tables
Marketisation of education has increased competition
between schools for league table positions. Jackson argues
girls are seen as more desirable candidates as their exams
results are better so they tend to be offered places at high
performing schools. This can lead to a self-fulfilling
prophecy of success. On the other hand, boys are seen as
disruptive, and a liability for the school’s league table
position, so are rejected by school at the top of the league
table. As a result, they go to schools at the bottom of the
league table which receive lower funding, have poor
resources and so their students underachieve.
Criticisms of external factors
Impact of Feminism:
Reay – feminism has not affected all girls, e.g. w/c have limited aspirations for careers as they face limited job opportunities. They see marriage and motherhood as more achievable and a source of status.
Changes in the family:
New Right would say that lone mothers are negative role models as they are dependent on benefits.
Increase in women’s employment opportunities:
quaternary sector is now replacing the service sector and it prefers to employ men (google’s employees are 70% male) so there are jobs out there for boys yet it doesn’t seem to be having an impact on their ambitions and motivation.
Girls’ changing ambitions
Biggart – w/c girls face instability in the labour market and see motherhood as the only viable option for their future.
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